Verses on Sāṃkhya 21.3

21.3

yasmāc cetanasvabhāvaḥ puruṣaḥ, tasmāt tatsaṃyogād acetanaṃ mahadādi liṅgam adhyavasāyābhimānasaṅkalpālocanādiṣu vṛttiṣu cetanāvat pravartate | ko dṛṣṭāntaḥ --- tad yathā anuṣṇāśīto ghaṭaḥ śītābhir adbhiḥ saṃspṛṣṭaḥ śīto bhavati | agninā saṃyukta uṣṇo bhavati | evaṃ mahadādi liṅgam acetanam api bhūtvā cetanāvad bhavati | tasmād adhyavasāyaṃ kurvanti guṇāḥ kāryādiṣu | yad apy uktam --- lokopacārāt kartā puruṣa iti | atra brūmaḥ --- guṇakartṛtve 'pi tathā karteva bhavaty udāsīnaḥ | atra dṛṣṭāntaś ca | kecit kila caurā grāmaṃ hṛtvā dravyaṃ gṛhītvā grāmāntaraṃ gacchanti kṛtakāryāḥ | taiḥ saha sārthena śrotriyo brāhmaṇaḥ panthānaṃ gacchati | tatpadānusāribhir ārakṣibhis te gṛhītāḥ | kṛtāparādhais taiḥ saha so 'pi brāhmaṇo gṛhītas tvam api caura iti | tad yathāsāv acauras tatsaṃsargadoṣeṇa cauratayā pratītas taiḥ | tathā sattvādayo guṇāḥ kartāras taiḥ saṃyuktaḥ puruṣo 'pi akartāpi kartā bhavati | kartṛsaṃsargāt karteva | paraṃ paramārthatayā akartā puruṣaḥ //

Because spirit is conscious by nature, therefore, from conjunction with it, the unconscious manifest sign—the great [principle] (mahat) and the rest—proceeds as if conscious in its functionings such as ascertainment, self-assertion, intention, and perceptual observation. What is the example? Just as a pot that is neither hot nor cold becomes cold when touched by cold water, [and] becomes hot when joined with fire; in this way, the manifest sign, consisting of the great [principle] and the rest, though unconscious, becomes as if conscious. Therefore, the constituents make ascertainments regarding effects and so forth. As for what was also said—that 'spirit is an agent through common usage'—to this we say: 'likewise, although agency belongs to the constituents, the indifferent one becomes as if an agent.' And here is an example: Certain thieves, having plundered a village and seized the wealth, were going to another village with their deed accomplished. Along with that company, a Vedic scholar brāhmaṇa was walking along the road. They were seized by watchmen tracking their footprints. Along with those who had committed the crime, that brāhmaṇa was also seized: 'You too are a thief.' Just as he, although not a thief, was regarded by them as a thief owing to the fault of contact with them; so too, the constituents, sattva and the rest, are the agents, and spirit, being conjoined with them, becomes an agent though it is a non-agent. Through contact with an agent, it is as if an agent. But from the ultimate standpoint, spirit is a non-agent. //